For Students
Finding a job after you graduate...
Breaking into the creative industry is one of the most challenging experiences young and aspiring talents can have. I also went through my own share of declined applications when I graduated and this is indeed frustrating but all very normal at the beginning.
- Portfolio: Your portfolio is your “business card” in the creative industries. Showcase your best work, including game-related projects, concept art, 3D models, animations, and any other relevant pieces. A strong portfolio will demonstrate your skills and passion to potential employers.
Useful Links:Getting hired through your portfolio
Successful portfolio examples
Professional artist reviews portfolios Networking: Attend industry events, conferences, and local meetups to connect with professionals already working in the games industry. Networking provides opportunities to learn from others, gain insights into industry trends, and possibly even land job interviews. Also, use online platforms like LinkedIn to expand your professional connections. Many of my own opportunities arose from being recommended by people I knew and saw my work.
Useful Links:
Networking Etiquette in the Games Industry
Getting started with Linkedin
An introvert’s guide to networking- Specialisation: Determine which aspect of game design or development you’re most passionate about, whether it’s concept art, character design, level design, or narrative writing. While specialising is important, having a basic understanding of various game development aspects can make you more versatile and attractive to potential employers.
Useful Links:
Overlooked art jobs in the games industry
Complete list of games industry specialisations
Survival guide for game developers Entry-Level “Opportunities”: Landing your first job in the games industry might involve starting at an entry-level position or pursuing internships. These opportunities allow you to gain valuable experience, learn from experienced professionals, and establish your presence in the industry. Treat every opportunity as a chance to learn and grow. Most of these positions will be unpaid. At the beginning of your carreer that is OK (in the sense that this is just how it is). Go by the principle “Earn or Learn”. Meaning that even working on projects for free is fine as long as you learn new skills that are important for you and your portfolio.
Useful Links:
Job board at gamesindustry.biz
Job board at hitmarker.net
Finding teammates for game projects online
Reading List - Game Studies
This reading list is a resource for students doing research for their diplomas and are looking for materials in the field of game studies and adjacent academic fields. The books and papers listed here have been used by me in research and teaching, and are highly recommended. I have highlighted readings that I consider essential in bold.
Theory
Bogost, Ian. 2007. Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Bogost, Ian. 2021. “Persuasive Games, A Decade Later.” In Persuasive Gaming in Context, by T. de la Hera, J. Jansz, J. Raessens and B. Schouten. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Caillois, Roger. 2001. Man, Play and Games. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Simon, Jonas, Heide Smith, and Susana, Pajares Tosca. 2020. Understanding Video Games: The Essential Introduction. 4th Edition. Oxon: Routledge.
Ermi, Laura, and Frans Mäyrä. 2005. “Fundamental components of the gameplay experience: Analysing immersion.” Worlds in play: International perspectives on digital games research, 37-53.
Furze, Robert. 2016. “Challenge.” In The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies, edited by Mark Wolf and Bernard Perron, 143-151. Oxon: Routledge.
Huizinga, Johan. 2016. Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. Kettering: Angelico Press.
Juul, Jesper. 2003. Half-real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds Cambridge: MIT Press.
Juul, Jesper. 2013. The Art of Failure: An Essay on the Pain of Playing Video Games. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Mäyrä, Frans. 2008. An Introduction to Game Studies. London: SAGE.
Reinhard, Andrew. 2018. Archaeogaming: An Introduction to Archaeology in and of Video Games. New York: Berghahn Books.
Schallegger, René, Reinhold. 2021. “Light My (Camp-) Fire: Affect and Incitement in Firewatch.” In Culture at Play: How Video Games Influence and Replicate Our World, edited by L. Joyce and V. Navaroo-Remesal, 77-86. Leiden: Brill.
Sutton-Smith, Brian. 2001. The Ambiguity of Play. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Tavinor, Grant. 2016. “Art and Aesthetics.” In The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies, edited by J. P. Wolf and Perron Bernard, 59-66. Oxon: Routledge.
Psychology
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. 2002. Flow: The Classic Work on How to Achieve Happiness. London: Rider.
Ferguson, Christopher, J. 2010. “Blazing Angels or Resident Evil? Can Violent Video Games Be a Force for Good?” Review of General Psychology 14 (2): 66-81
Hodent, Celia. 2018. The Gamer’s Brain: How Neuroscience and UX can Impact Video Game Design. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Hodent, Celia. 2021. The Psychology of Video Games. Oxon: Routledge.
Klimmt, C., T. Hartmann, and A. Frey. 2007. “Effectance and control as determinants of video game enjoyment.” Cyberpsychology & behavior 10 (16): 845-848.
Yee, N. 2006. “Motivations for Play in Online Games.” Cyber Psychology & Behavior 9: 772-775.
Game-Based Learning
Barr, Matthew. 2017. “Student attitudes to games-based skills development: Learning from video games in higher education.” Computers in Human Behavior 80: 283-294.
Barr, Matthew. 2017. “Video games can develop graduate skills in higher education students: A randomised trial.” Computers & Education 113: 86-97.
Barr, Michael. 2019. Graduate Skills and Game-Based Learning: Using Video Games for Employability in Higher Education. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Brown, Harry, J. 2008. Videogames and Education. New York: M.E. Sharpe.
Gee, James, Paul. 2003. “What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy.” Computers in entertainment 1 (1): 20.
Schrier, Karen. 2015. “EPIC: A framework for using video games in ethics education.” Journal of Moral Education 44 (4): 393-424.
Squire, Kurt, and Henry Jenkins. 2003. “Harnessing the power of games in education.” Insight 3 (1): 5-33.
Svelch, J. 2010. “The good, the bad, and the player: The challenges to moral engagement in single-player avatar-based video games.” In Ethics and game design: Teaching values through play, edited by K. Schrier and D. Gibson, 52-68. IGI Global.
Games User Research
Desurvire, H., and M. Seif El-Nasr. 2013. “Methods for Game User Research: studying player behavior to enhance game design.” IEEE computer graphics and applications 33 (4): 82-87.
Drachen, A., and S. Connor. 2018. “Game analytics for games user research.” In Games User Research, edited by A. Drachen, P. Mirza-Babaei and L. E Nacke, 333-353. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Keebler, J., R., W., J. Shelstad, D., C. Smith, B., S. Chaparro, and M., H. Phan. 2020. “Validation of the GUESS-18: a short version of the Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS).” Journal of Usability Studies 16 (1): 49-62.
Mäntymäki, Matti, Sami Hyrynsalmi, and Antti Koskenvoima. 2019. “How Do Small and Medium-Sized Game Companies Use Analytics? An Attention-Based View of Game Analytics.” Information Systems Frontiers 22: 1163-1178.
Pereira-Santos, Carlos. 2019. Understanding people through games (dissertation). Technische Universiteit Eindhoven.
Phan, M., H., J., R. Keebler, and B., S. Chaparro. 2016. “The development and validation of the game user experience satisfaction scale (GUESS).” Human factors 58 (8): 1217-1247.
Tisserand, David. 2018. “It is all about process.” In Games User Research, edited by A. Drachen, P. Mirza-Babaei and L., E. Nacke, 31-44. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zammitto, Veronica. 2018. “Games User Research as part of the development process in the game industry: challenges and best practices.” In Games user research, edited by A. Drachen, P. Mirza-Babaei and L., E. Nacke, 15-30. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sociology
Cole, Alayna, and Jessica Zammit. 2021. Cooperative Gaming: Diversity in the Games Industry and How to Cultivate Inclusion. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Deslauriers, Patrick, and Laura, Iseut Lafrance St-Martin. 2020. “Assessing Toxic Behaviour in Dead by Daylight : Perceptions and Factors of Toxicity According to the Game’s Official Subreddit Contributors.” The international journal of computer game research 2020 (4).
DeVane, B., and K. D. Squire. 2008. “The meaning of race and violence in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.” Games and Culture 3 (3-4): 264-285.
Dyer-Withford, Nick, and Greig de Peuter. 2009. Games of Empire Global Capitalism and Video Games . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Gray, Kishonna. 2014. Race, Gender, and Deviance in Xbox Live: Theoretical Perspectives from the Virtual Margins. Edited by Victor, E. Kappeler. Oxford: Elsevier.
Gray, Kishona. 2020. Intersectional Tech: Black Users in Digital Gaming. Baton Rouge: LSU Press.
Muriel, Daniel, and Garry Crawford. 2018. Video Games As Culture: Considering the Role and Importance of Video Games in Contemporary Society. Oxon: Routledge.
Design
Barney, Christopher. 2021. Pattern Language for Game Design. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Simon, Jonas, Heide Smith, and Susana, Pajares Tosca. 2020. Understanding Video Games: The Essential Introduction. 4th Edition. Oxon: Routledge.
Hunicke, Robin, Marc LeBlanc, and Robert Zubek. 2004. “MDA: A formal approach to game design and game research.” Proceedings of the AAAI Workshop on Challenges in Game AI. 1722.
Jenkins, Henry. 2004. “Game design as narrative architecture.” Computer 44 (3): 118-130.
Rouse III, Richard. 2016. “Game Design.” In The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies, edited by Mark, J., P. Wolf and Bernard Perron, 83-90. Oxon: Routledge.
Salen, Katie, and Eric Zimmerman. 2004. Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Tavinor, Grant. 2009. The Art of Videogames. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Tavinor, Grant. 2016. “Art and Aesthetics.” In The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies, edited by J. P. Wolf and Perron Bernard, 59-66. Oxon: Routledge.
Wilson, Douglas, and Miguel Sicart. 2010. “Now It’s Personal: On Abusive Game Design.” Futureplay ‘10: Proceedings of the International Academic Conference on the Future of Game Design and Technology. 40-47.
Zubek, Robert. 2020. Elements of Game Design. Cambridge: MIT Press.
History
Chapman, Adam. 2016. Digital Games as History: How Videogames Represent the Past and Offer Access to Historical Practice. Oxon: Routledge.
Barton, Matt. 2008. Dungeons and Destops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games. Wellesley: A K Peters.
Crist, Walter, Anne-Elizabeth Dunn-Vaturi, and Alex de Voogt. 2016. Ancient Egyptians at Play: Board Games Across Borders. Leiden: Bloomsbury.
David, F, N. 1962. Games, Gods and Gambling: The origins and history of probability and statistical ideas from the earliest times to the Newtonian era. New York: Hafner Publishing Company.
Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Simon, Jonas, Heide Smith, and Susana, Pajares Tosca. 2020. Understanding Video Games: The Essential Introduction. 4th Edition. Oxon: Routledge.
Kyppö, J. 2019. Board Games: Throughout the History and Multidimensional Spaces. New Jersy: World Scientific Publishing.
Parlett, David. 2018. History of Board Games. Vermont: EPBM.
Politopoulos, A., A. Mol, K. Boom, and C. Ariese. 2019. “History Is Our Playground”: Action and Authenticity in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey.” Advances in Archaeological Practice 7 (3): 317-323.
Wilson, Graeme. 2018. Playing with Things: The archaeology, and ethnography of human-object interactions in Atlantic Scotland. Oxford: Archaeopress.
Reinhard, Andrew. 2018. Archaeogaming: An Introduction to Archaeology in and of Video Games. New York: Berghahn Books.
Ethics
Arrambide, K., J. Yoon, C. MacArthur, K. Rogers, A. Luz, and L. E. Nacke. 2022. ““I Don’t Want To Shoot The Android”: Players Translate Real-Life Moral Intuitions to In-Game Decisions in Detroit: Become Human.” Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 1-15.
Bowman, Nicholas, D. 2015. “The Rise (and Refinement) of Moral Panic.” In The Video Game Debate Unravelling the Physical, Social, and Psychological Effects of Digital Games, edited by Rachel Kowert and Thorsten Quandt, 22-38. New York: Routledge.
Conway, Steven, and Jennifer de Winter (eds.). 2017. Video Game Policy. Oxon: Routledge.
Consalvo, Mia. 2005. “Rule sets, cheating, and magic circles: Studying games and ethics.” The International Review of Information Ethics 4: 7-12.
Gabriel, Sonja. 2020. “Are You Sure You Want to Do that? Teaching Values with Serious Games.” In Theoretical and Empirical Approaches to Ethical Questions in Digital Game Cultures, edited by Maike Groen, Nina Kiel, Angela Tillmann and André Weßel, 163-176. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
Gotterbarn, Don, and James Moor. 2009. “Virtual decisions: video game ethics, Just Consequentialism, and ethics on the fly.” ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society 39 (3): 27-42.
Groen, Maike, Nina Kiel, Angela Tillmann, and André Weßel. 2020. Theoretical and Empirical Approaches to Ethical Questions in Digital Game Cultures. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
Formosa, Paul, Malcolm Ryan, and Dan Staines. 2016. “Papers, Please and the systemic approach to engaging ethical expertise in videogames.” Ethics and Information Technology 18: 211-225.
Hayse, Mark. 2016. “Ethics.” In The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies, edited by J. P. Wolf and Bernard Perron, 466-474. Oxon: Routledge.
Markey, Patrick, M., and Christopher J. Ferguson. 2017. Moral combat: Why The War On Violent Video Games Is Wrong. Dallas: BenBella Books, Inc.
Nay, J. L., and J., P. Zagal. 2017. “Meaning without consequence: virtue ethics and inconsequential choices in games.” Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games. 1-8.
Rauch, Peter, E. 2012. “Playing with Good and Evil Videogames and Moral Philosophy.” In The Videogame Ethics Reader, edited by José, P. Zagal, 145-162. San Diego: Cognella.
Reynolds, Ren. 2002. “Playing a “Good” Game: A Philosophical Approach to Understanding the Morality of Games.” International Game Developers Association. Accessed November 23, 2021. https://cs10.org/su15/resources/readings/video-grames/reynolds_ethics.pdf.
Schallegger, René, Reinhold. 2021. “„What Pride Had Wrought“: On the Ethics of Knowledge and Belief in Dragon Age: Inquisition.” In Wissen in der Fantastik, edited by M. Uhrig, V. Cuntz-Leng and L. Kollinger. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
Schott, Gareth. 2016. Violent Games: Rules, Realism and Effect. London: Bloomsbury.
Schrier, Karen. 2015. “EPIC: A framework for using video games in ethics education.” Journal of Moral Education 44 (4): 393-424.
Sicart, Miguel. 2011. The Ethics of Computer Games. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Sicart, Miguel. 2019. “Papers, Please.” In How to Play Video Games, edited by Matthew Payne and Nina Huntemann, 149-156. New York: New York University Press.
Sicart, Miguel. 2020. “Homo Ludens Reloaded: The Ethics of Play in the Information Age.” In Games and Ethics: Theoretical and Empirical Approaches to Ethical Questions in Digital Game Cultures, edited by Maike Groen, Nina Kiel, Angela Tillmann and André Weßel, 13-28. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
Svelch, J. 2010. “The good, the bad, and the player: The challenges to moral engagement in single-player avatar-based video games.” In Ethics and game design: Teaching values through play, edited by K. Schrier and D. Gibson, 52-68. IGI Global.
Zagal, Jose, P. 2009. “Ethically Notable Videogames: Moral Dilemmas and Gameplay .” DiGRA ’09 – Proceedings of the 2009 DiGRA International Conference: Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory. Brunel University.
Zagal, Jose, P. 2012. “Encouraging Ethical Reflection with Videogames.” In The Videogame Ethics Reader, edited by José, P. Zagal, 67-82. Cognella.
Zagal, Jose, P. (ed.). 2012. The Videogame Ethics Reader. Cognella.